• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Detecting a 1960's campground 225 coins - 70 dimes!

LovestheShiny!

Forum Supporter
Joined
Jan 1, 2018
Messages
4,525
Location
Montana
Decided to do something different today. It was a perfect fall day, temps in the low 70's and sunny. I headed over Lolo Pass from Montana to Idaho, and traveled down the Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers (same route of Lewis & Clark waaaaay back when) into Idaho. I had permission to detect a lodge for fishermen and hunters, built in the early 1960's. I did have a bit of hope to find some shiny, but barely, as the date of the lodge meant only a few years of silver circulation. I did hope to find a lot of coins and I did that!

The first couple of coins were copper memorial pennies, and the first dime was a 1954-D Silver Rosie! Wow... my thoughts were that this place had never been detected. As it turned out, that was the only SILVER dime, as the next 69 dimes found were all clad! I wonder if that is some sort of record for dimes! I did find ONE wheat penny, the rest were copper memorials. I must have passed over about 50-75 surface / shallow zincolns, I did not dig them as they are a distinct "75" on the AT Pro. I did get a costume gold looking ring, and a small cross. I know there are gold rings there as there is a swimming pool, volleyball area, and other areas that look good, but the pull tabs are really thick. On this first visit, I wanted to look for high tone targets and see if I could pull some shiny. I did get fooled by a half-dozen bottle caps.

For all of you "clad stabbers" out there, I detected for 6.75 hrs, found 225 coins total... for a rate of 33.33 CPH (coins per hour). Not as good as the hard core cladders here on the forum, but not bad for me as I usually chase older sites and silver coins.

Had a ton of fun, my knees are a bit sore from all that down & up! Saw a few cool sights... a HUGE bull elk crossed the road just ahead of me on the drive there, and while detecting, saw a KC-135 Stratotanker fly overhead with a C-17 Globemaster cargo jet on the boom! Hope this is of interest and successful hunting to everyone!
 

Attachments

  • coins.jpg
    coins.jpg
    82.3 KB · Views: 383
Last edited:
Really sounds like a great adventure David. Lots of digging and some great exercise in what I perceive as a very scenic site. Congrats on the Rosie and the ton of clad. Trapper
 
Thanks Trapper! Yes, it is one of the nicest scenic drives and areas around. The trees were turning color, those rivers are crystal clear and pure, and the coins were popping out of the ground!
 
....For all of you "clad stabbers" out there...

Haha, that's exactly the sentiments. Although most hard-core hunters *bristle* at clad, there's actually some times where it is so thick , that it becomes a sport-unto-itself. Too bad we're not in countries (like Japan) where they have $5.00 coins. Doh !
 
Thanks Tom! While I do hunt for the older coins, any clad nickels dimes and quarters are welcome and I don't turn my nose up at those items. I figure each $1.10 or so will buy me another Silver Dime at the end of the detecting season!

Thanks Outlaw! I enjoyed the gorgeous day and the coins were thick!
 
One day, I'm hoping to be able to hit a site like that. That's a ton of clad, and I bet it was a ton of fun.

BCD



Decided to do something different today. It was a perfect fall day, temps in the low 70's and sunny. I headed over Lolo Pass from Montana to Idaho, and traveled down the Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers (same route of Lewis & Clark waaaaay back when) into Idaho. I had permission to detect a lodge for fishermen and hunters, built in the early 1960's. I did have a bit of hope to find some shiny, but barely, as the date of the lodge meant only a few years of silver circulation. I did hope to find a lot of coins and I did that!

The first couple of coins were copper memorial pennies, and the first dime was a 1954-D Silver Rosie! Wow... my thoughts were that this place had never been detected. As it turned out, that was the only SILVER dime, as the next 69 dimes found were all clad! I wonder if that is some sort of record for dimes! I did find ONE wheat penny, the rest were copper memorials. I must have passed over about 50-75 surface / shallow zincolns, I did not dig them as they are a distinct "75" on the AT Pro. I did get a costume gold looking ring, and a small cross. I know there are gold rings there as there is a swimming pool, volleyball area, and other areas that look good, but the pull tabs are really thick. On this first visit, I wanted to look for high tone targets and see if I could pull some shiny. I did get fooled by a half-dozen bottle caps.

For all of you "clad stabbers" out there, I detected for 6.75 hrs, found 225 coins total... for a rate of 33.33 CPH (coins per hour). Not as good as the hard core cladders here on the forum, but not bad for me as I usually chase older sites and silver coins.

Had a ton of fun, my knees are a bit sore from all that down & up! Saw a few cool sights... a HUGE bull elk crossed the road just ahead of me on the drive there, and while detecting, saw a KC-135 Stratotanker fly overhead with a C-17 Globemaster cargo jet on the boom! Hope this is of interest and successful hunting to everyone!
 
Thanks Buford - it was a lot of fun to be zoned in on pulling the clad, with still having a remote chance that a coin might be silver. I had some company too... a cream colored Lab, older dog, that belonged to the manager, it hung around me for several hours, very friendly. Once in a while it would sit on my towel, or the coil, and I had to gently move it out of the way. Gave it a part of my hamburger patty at a short lunch break and it was my friend for life! :)
 
That's a lot of coins for one hunt! Most coins I've ever gotten in a hunt was 100..that was earlier this year at a beach. Took me 7 hours. How much do all the coins from this hunt add up to?
 
Thanks sandgroper! Totals was about $18. Tons of copper pennies. That's about $2.50 an hour, pretty poor pay, but lots of enjoyment!
 
Last edited:
Great hunt and write up! Man! WTG on the Deuce and a Quarter Day! Thanks for the 'CPH' readout too! Was it the extraction effort that set this rate?, or were they spread out, or were you just enjoying the day leisurely and not intending to speed around like a MadMan? :laughing:...
 
Thanks Mud! First time I'd ever heard "deuce and a quarter" was in reference to the old Buick Electra 225 "boat" of a car from the early to mid 70's!

I didn't rush around super fast, I was hoping for a few more silver dimes so took a bit of time listening for somewhat deeper targets, but alas, twas not to be on the shiny. In some areas the coins were thick, hard to take a step without another target.

The clad dimes were sure there though! Maybe it cost a dime to swim, a dime for a popsicle, and a dime to go on the swing set or play volleyball!
 
Thanks Digger27! Yeah, my knees were a bit sore, thankfully the back was fine. Got to rest a bit with the 3+ hour drive home!
 
Another thought: Re.: Clad :

I met a fellow, who had just graduated from high school in about 1963 in southern CA. One day, he'd seen a guy metal detecting on the beach. Watched the man dig a few coins. Asked the fellow "where can I get one of those". Learned that it was a "Metrotech" brand, and learned where they were sold. He went and bought one , and ... started going to sandboxes all around Pasadena, Riverside, etc.... And said that on any given day or hunt, he could easily get $2 to $3 in change.

I asked him "Ssshheeessskk, in 1963, there were still virgin old parks, virgin ghost towns, forts that weren't off-limits yet, etc.... Why oh why weren't you going for exotic things and places, rather than clad in sand boxes ?"

He explained to me, that .... in 1963 , minimum wage for a young guy like himself, was only $1.25 p/h. Gas was only .30 p/gallon, etc.... So for HIM, this (even if only clad) was like a gold mine. He could detect for a few hours, to have enough $$ to fill his gas tank, buy beer, get dinner, etc.... So it made perfect sense to angle only for clad. And looking back, he was spending all the silver he was finding. Since, of course, it was still in circulation at the time. Doh !
 
Tom - good story and true back then. With the continuing loss of the purchasing power of the US dollar, you might get enough for a few burgers at Mickey D's! Not much beer or gas money though!

I joke with my wife or detecting friend when I finally get over $1 in clad, that at least I can afford a hamburger at Mickey's and I will get to eat today!
 
Thanks Glasshopper! My arm wasn't tired but I was a bit sore from the walking and doing about 250 (counting the junk items I dug) deep knee bends!
 
Back
Top Bottom